


I Thought We Would Be Safe

by Latte_Hottay



Series: I Thought [1]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/M, I like angst can u tell, Injury, Parent Henry Hidgens, Post-Apotheosis (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Post-Canon, Romance, Some torture later on, Wow this is dark, but there's also fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2020-10-26 19:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 16,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20747600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latte_Hottay/pseuds/Latte_Hottay
Summary: A few familiar faces surprise Emma at the hospital. This would probably be the end of her shitty life, but a miracle happened.





	1. Kelly

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my shitty attempt to write a Paulkins fanfiction!

Emma stumbled out of her room in the hospital, her leg still hurting, luckily the pain was a bit more tolerable than before, but the wound was deep and wouldn't heal that easily. There was a woman outside her room, dressed in black. Emma assumed that it was the lady who spoke to her on the phone, but she forgot what her name was.   
  
“How's that leg doing', Kelly?” the woman asked. She was confused at first, but then she realized: _Kelly was her new name._   
  
“Ugh, yeah, why did it have to be Kelly?” Emma said, “I liked my old name. Couldn't you at least have picked something similar, like, Emily, or... that's all I can think of...” she looked down towards the floor.   
  
“That's a negative, Kelly. You'll get used to it. In the meantime, I can't have anyone making any connections with you and Emma Perkins, who perished in the Hatchetfield catastrophe.”   
  
Emma sighed, “Yeah... that was the other thing. You couldn't even give me a cool death? Like, Emma Perkins, her flesh melted off, while she was shielding children. You know, something heroic.” she took a deep breath, “I mean, it was my idea to destroy the meteor after all...”   
  
The woman nodded, “And uncle Sam is not ungrateful.” she marched towards Emma, “Here Kelly, this is for you.” she handed her an envelope, “Inside you'll find a new passport, social security card and a deed to a five-acre plot of land in Colorado. Green, fertile. Hell of a place to grow some cannabis.”   
  
Despite the situation, Emma smiled, “Thanks...” she put the envelope in her bag, when she thought of something, “Uhm... Colonel Schaffer?” she said when she finally thought of the woman's name, “You were sure there were no other survivors?”   
  
The colonel sighed, “We've been through this, Kelly. There were no survivors.” she took a little break after each word and looked Emma dead in the eye. “Say for one pocket-sized squirrel we found burrowed in the chest of a local woodworker.”   
  
Emma smiled, “Oh... Peanuts! I'm glad he got out of there.”   
  
Colonel Schaffer nodded, “Now that is a story we can disclose to the public. In the wake of a tragedy like this, a little bit of good news goes a long way.”   
  
Emma looked at the floor again, “Yeah... it's just, uh... Paul.”   
  
The woman sighed, Emma saw she was getting tired of her questions, but she had to know. “He was a good man, Kelly. If not for his sacrifice, the outbreak would've spread to the mainland. It was contained in Hatchetfield, but if it had gotten loose here in Clivesdale, there'd be no stopping it.” She turned towards Emma, “Goodbye, Kelly.” she saluted Emma, who returned the gesture, a little weaker and more   
  
discouraged than the colonels salute, but it was there. “Good luck with the pot farm.” Emma sighed, “Thanks…”   
  
She wanted to walk away, but the colonel realized something, “Oh! One more thing... You'll be escorted to Colorado by a mister Ben Bridges, he's waiting outside.”   
  
Emma was confused, “I don't know any Ben Bridges...”   
  
The woman interrupted her, “According to our records, you two are very good friends. PEIP would like to see it become something more.” She walked away.   
  
Emma felt terrible, if Paul wasn't alive, she didn't want to date anyone for the rest of her life. The door opened, and there he was, the love of her life: Paul.


	2. Inevitable for us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul is singing oh no

“Oh my god, Paul! You made it!” She ran towards him, as fast as her bad leg could carry her, “We made it!” She hugged him and he put his arms around her.    
  
“Emma, I'm sorry...” he started to sing. Why was he singing? Was this some sort of joke? Emma was scared. “You lost...”    
  
Emma released him, “Paul?”    
  
”Emma, I'm sorry, you lost your way.”    
  
Deep down she knew he was infected, but she refused to believe it, “Paul, you're scaring me...”    
  
Paul grabbed her and started to dance, “What if I told you I made it, and this is the life that I chose?”    
  
He held Emma's wrist really tight, Emma tried to get away. “Would you even believe it, Emma?” He pulled her wrist, so she stood in front of him. “Do you believe in ghosts?”    
  
He grabbed her shoulders; she was stiff with fear. Paul held her shoulders and moved her around. “What if I told you a story? That settled all the dust?” He turned her around, “I’m still the man you trust.”    
  
While he sang that sentence, Emma started to think about it, she’d only known him for two weeks, but she really started to trust him. He walked through the hallway of the hospital with her. “It’s inevitable for us.”    
  
Emma finally realized that she was no longer safe here. “No! Get away from me! You’re not Paul, you’re one of them!” she cried.    
  
Paul let her go and ran towards a door, “Before, I had no ambition, but now my life is a song.”    
  
Professor Hidgens, her former biology teacher, appeared in the doorway. Paul leaned with his arm on his shoulder.    
  
“Don't you want to see me happy?” he sang, while he and professor Hidgens danced towards Emma. Emma turned around, but the nurse stood behind her, Emma screamed. “Is it so tragically wrong?” Paul grabbed her shoulders again. “What if the only choice is.” He released her. “You have to sing to survive? We must go on with the show.”    
  
He turned her around, Emma saw that Bill and someone she didn’t know were there too, and Ted, gosh, she wanted to punch him in the face so bad, after everything he did to her and Paul.    
  
“It’s inevitable…” Paul and the nurse sang together. “To know what I want now.” Paul looked into the distance.    
  
“Know what you want now.” The other aliens echoed.    
  
“Emma, I want you, to join the party.” Paul and all the other infected pointed at her. “Aren’t you going to tip me?”    
  
“Get your cup of coffee.”    
  
Emma saw her former boss, Nora, enter the building. All the aliens walked through the hallway. Paul looked at her, “Look at the fun we’re having already.”    
  
The aliens gathered around him, “What?”    
  
Emma tried to run away as fast as she could, but after a few seconds she was in the same room as before. She saw the aliens again, “Put your words to lyrics and you’re playing the game now.”    
  
“It’s just a fucking loop?!” Emma shouted. She tried to run away again.    
  
The aliens kept singing, “It’s all there is and all there ever was.” The infected turned towards her, “Emma!” They shouted her name and it scared Emma so much she turned back around.    
  
Paul stared at her “Let me puke in your mouth, Em.” Ted was smirking behind him, which made her want to beat him even more. “Just open your food bin, girl. And you can join the hive. Then show me your…”    
  
Emma started to cry, she was scared, alone, and injured. There was no way she’d get away before the infected caught her. “Hands! Show me those jazz hands! Get them up or you're shit outta luck!”    
  
Emma tried to ask another patient for help, but he didn’t react. “Show me your hands! Show me those jazz hands! Or I might be inclined…”    
  
The music changed, Ted and Bill marched towards Emma and they both grabbed one of her arms. Emma screamed, she heard that Paul was still singing, but she was so scared that she didn’t even hear what he was singing anymore. “No! NO!” she cried, while Ted and Bill dragged her to the other aliens.    
  
The lights in the hospital suddenly changed from white to multiple colors, “Show-stopping number! With Emma front and center! A kick line is inevitable!” Paul danced towards her; Emma screamed.    
  
The infected started to walk around her, her former biology professor grabbed her shoulders while he was walking, but he released her pretty soon. “What if I told you a story. How the world became peaceful and just?” everyone sang, even a lot of patients and doctors had joined in. “It was inevitable. Inevitable. Inevitable…”    
  
Emma fell on the floor and the aliens bowed over her, she tried to crawl away. “The apotheosis is upon-“ Paul shouted. The other aliens joined in, “Us!” Emma surrendered as the aliens leaned over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fun.


	3. Fight or flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's happening? PAUL TO THE RESCUE

Emma gathered all her strength to get up, the infected were coming closer. Ted and Paul grabbed her, while the others were waiting. They dragged her to the entrance of the hospital. Emma screamed and tried to get away. Her right arm began to hurt, Ted held her tightly.    
  
Paul’s face came closer to hers , Emma tried to push him away, but he whispered, “It’s okay, we’ll get out of here.”    
  
Emma was confused, was he infected? Or was he just pretending to be? They kept walking, well, Emma didn’t walk, she was being dragged behind Ted and Paul. She was getting kidnapped. By aliens.    
  
She was frightened, and she still didn’t know whether Paul was infected or not. Of course, she hoped he wasn’t, that would be her only chance to survive. But she expected the worst.    
  
The infected brought Emma to the Starlight Theater, where Ted & Paul let her fall on the ground. She landed on her leg and screamed in pain. Her sight got blurry, and she tried her best not to pass out, she heard the infected sing a song.    
  
Tears streamed down Emma’s cheeks. After a while, the song was finished and she heard footsteps coming towards her.    
  
A gunshot. Screaming.    
  
Emma laid on the floor, terrified of what was going to happen.    
  
Another gunshot, closer this time. Someone fell down next to her. Emma tried to crawl away, but she couldn’t, she was too tired and every time she moved her leg, the pain got unbearable.    
  
Another gunshot, the sound echoed through the streets. Someone fell on top of her.    
  
The air was squeezed out of her lungs. Everything went black.   
  
  
  
“Emma? Emma?” someone grabbed Emma’s shoulders and tried to wake her up. She opened her eyes, she immediately felt dizzy and fell against the person who was holding her. “Emma, oh my god, Emma! You’re alive!”    
  
Emma looked at him, she looked into blue eyes. They were Paul’s blue eyes. “No, no, get away!” she said, too tired and weak to move, or fight when she had too.    
  
Paul looked at Emma, “Emma.“ he said calmly, ”Emma, you can trust me, I’m so sorry.” A tear streamed down his cheek, “I thought, I have to sing, otherwise she would kill us both. I am so sorry I scared you!”    
  
Emma tried to sit up straight; Paul helped her. At this point she didn’t even care if he was infected. If he was, she’d die. But without him, she would also die. She decided that the small chance of him being a normal human was her only hope to survive this. “Paul…” She started to cry. “I thought you were infected! I thought you died and you would kill me too and…” She sobbed.    
  
Paul hugged her, “It’s okay… I’m alive, and so are you.” They sat like this for a minute.    
  
“Emma… I don’t know if I killed all of them… We have to get out of here.” Paul said, while letting her go. Emma nodded. Paul grabbed her hand, “Do you think you can walk?”    
  
Emma swallowed audibly; she hadn’t thought about that yet. “I… I don’t know.” Paul stood up and offered her his hand. Emma grabbed his hand and pulled herself up, until she stood on her right leg. Paul smiled at her, which made her calm down a bit. Emma tried to put some pressure on her left leg, but she almost fainted because of the pain. She bit her lip and squeezed in Paul’s hand to regain her balance.    
  
“We are pretty close to my office, my car is in the garage, if we get there we can drive to another hospital.” Paul said.    
  
Emma grabbed her backpack and wiped some of the dirt off, “I’ve got a deed to a plot of land in Colorado from colonel Schaffer. I think we should go there.”    
  
Paul nodded, “You can’t walk. Should I carry you?” Emma sighed. Paul looked at her.    
  
“Fine.” she answered.    
  
Paul hugged her, “I’m so sorry if I’ll hurt you.” He lifted Emma and started to walk. He almost fell over dead bodies multiple times. The movements hurt her leg, but they almost died and he was relieved that they were still alive, so she was just happy to lay in Paul’s arms.    
  
Paul looked at her, “Are you okay?” he asked. Emma nodded, she could see the high building of C.C.R.P. Technical in the distance, she assumed that was where Paul worked, as it was one of the few offices in Hatchetfield.   
  
She was right, Paul walked towards the building. He put Emma down on a bench in front of the building and grabbed the keys out of his pocket, “I'll get my car. You stay here, I'll pick you up in a minute.”    
  
Emma looked at him as he walked to the entrance of the building and unlocked the door. She looked around, the town was quiet, but she was scared that there were more aliens that would come and get her and Paul. No one was outside, they probably all died.    
  
She heard a car stop next to her, which made her snap out of her thoughts. The door of the car opened. “Emma? Are you okay?” Paul asked.    
  
Emma sighed, “I am, I guess... It’s just…” she didn’t know what to say and stared at the gravel underneath the bench. Paul walked towards her, “I know you’re scared; I mean, I am too. But at the moment we just have to get out of Hatchetfield.” He helped her stand up and guided her while she limped to the car.    
  
Once she settled in the passenger seat, Paul took a seat behind the wheel and they drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wOw bet you didn't expect that


	4. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Travelling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically me trying to make this chapter less boring but failing.

Emma looked out of the window, she thought about the last couple weeks. The day she met Paul for the first time felt like ages ago, but it happened just two weeks earlier. She sighed. 

Paul was driving quietly, Emma looked at him and saw a tear rolling down his cheek. “Paul?” she asked. 

Paul quickly wiped away his tears and looked at her, “Yeah?” 

Emma smiled, trying to comfort him. “Are you okay?” 

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess… It's just a lot to take in.” 

“I know exactly what you mean.” She looked outside, “We'll get through it.” she muttered, not knowing if she was trying to convince Paul or herself. 

“Emma? Can you hand me my phone? It’s in my bag.” 

Emma looked through the stuff in his bag, “I can’t find it…” 

”Oh, shit! I forgot. General McNamera threw my phone away.” 

Emma looked at him, confused, “What? Why?” 

”Something with a watch, it was a strange situation. Could you just search on Google Maps where the closest hospital to the plot of land is?” 

Emma grabbed her phone and opened Google Maps. “It’s almost 3 hours away…” 

Paul sighed, “You should sleep, don’t worry about me.” He smiled at her, but Emma knew he was also upset about everything that happened earlier. She decided not to point it out, she didn’t want to make things even more difficult than they already were.

Emma put her phone in a stand, so Paul knew where he had to go. 

She tried to sleep, but after an hour she was still awake. “Paul?” she asked. 

“Hey... Aren’t you asleep?” 

“I can’t sleep, I just think a lot about everything that happened…” she sighed. 

Paul grabbed her hand, while driving with his other hand, “It’s okay, we got out of there.” Emma nodded and rested her head against the car seat again. About 30 minutes later she finally fell asleep.

Emma was back in Hatchetfield again, in the cafeteria at her old school, Hatchetfield High. She was tied to a chair. A lot of people were singing and dancing around her. 

She looked at the crowd and she saw her former biology professor. Even though he was around the age of 60, he was dancing better than all of them. The aliens sang a song about love and uniting. 

Emma was scared and tried to loosen the rope around her wrists, but it didn’t work. Around 20 of the infected marched towards her, professor Hidgens removed the rope and forced her to stand up. 

Emma screamed for help, but she knew it wouldn’t matter, everyone was infected. Professor Hidgens wrapped the rope that was around her wrists a minute before, around her throat so she couldn’t breathe anymore. “Yes, Emma, come and join the fun!” Emma tried to push him away, but she couldn’t. She fainted and fell to the ground.

“Emma!” Emma woke up, screaming and trying to breathe. Paul looked at her “Are you alright? You were having a nightmare.” Emma trembled and stared into his eyes. “Emma?” 

Emma nodded, “I… It’s just…” She started to cry, so what she was trying to say was unintelligible. Paul squeezed her hand. He got off the highway and parked the car at the side of the road. 

Once the car had stopped, he looked at her. Emma looked down. “Emma? Please look at me.” Paul said. Emma looked up; her eyes were red from crying. “The hospital is 15 more minutes away, I’ll drive there, but-” 

Emma’s ringtone interrupted him, she looked at her phone and saw who was calling her: colonel Schaffer. “Ugh, I really don’t want to talk to her right now.” 

Paul grabbed Emma’s phone, “I got it, don’t worry.” He pushed the green button on the screen, “Hello, it’s Paul.” 

Emma heard the voice of the colonel shout at him, “Ben! Where are you and Kelly? Are you alive? A lot of aliens were found dead, and not at the place where they were seen for the last time!” 

Paul sighed, “First of all, I couldn’t answer your phone calls if I’d be dead. And me and Emma… I mean Kelly, are headed to the hospital in Colorado, Em- Kelly’s injury has got a lot worse. We’re almost there.” 

“Alright. I’ll contact doctor Field, he’s one of the doctors who works together with PEIP. Just say I sent you at the reception.” 

Emma realized how loud the colonel spoke, she could hear everything pretty loud, but the phone wasn’t on its speaker. 

“Okay, thank you.” Paul hung up and handed Emma her phone again, “We should go.” He started the motor of the car and drove into the streets of the city.


	5. Workin' Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma's doctor knows professor Hidgens.

Paul & Emma drove onto the hospital parking lot. Paul parked the car as close to the entrance as possible. Once he put the keys in his bag, he looked at Emma. Emma looked at her feet.    
  
“Emma?” Emma looked at him, he looked concerned, and he was really bad at hiding it, “You’re scared, aren’t you?” Emma nodded, trying to hold back her tears. Paul grabbed her hand and squeezed softly, “It’s okay to be scared… I’ll be there for you.”    
  
Emma smiled, a tear rolled down her cheek, “Paul?” She looked into his beautiful eyes, “Thank you.”    
  
Paul smiled at her, “Of course, you’re not alone… And I know we’ve only known each other for a bit over two weeks, but I really started to care about you. And it really hurt me so much to leave you alone in the hospital for so long, but otherwise we’d be dead…”    
  
“Paul… It’s okay.” Emma sighed, Paul unlocked the door and got out of the car.    
  
He walked around the car and opened her door, “Ready to go? I’ll carry you inside and we’ll ask for a wheelchair.” Paul picked her up and lifted her out of the car.    
  
It was around six in the evening and the hot air blew in Emma's face as she got out of the car. Paul dragged her into the building. A nurse saw them and ran away, a minute later, when they arrived at the reception, she walked towards them, pushing a wheelchair.    
  
Paul put Emma in the wheelchair. “Thank you.” he said. The nurse walked away.    
  
The guy behind the desk raised an eyebrow, “Name?” “Eh… This is Em- I mean Kelly Jackson. Colonel Schaffer sent us.” The guy nodded; Emma saw on his nametag that his name was Thomas.    
  
Thomas stood up and walked to another nurse, an older woman, around the age of 50. He whispered something in her ear and the woman nodded. They both walked towards them. Emma felt really uncomfortable and looked at Paul. Paul looked at the floor, but when he noticed that Emma was looking at him, he smiled.    
  
The woman, whose name was Tanya, according to her nametag, looked at Emma, “You can come with me.”    
  
She walked towards an elevator, which opened as soon as she pushed the button. Paul grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and pushed her into the elevator. The elevator stopped on the third floor and Tanya walked out, Paul followed her, while pushing the wheelchair.    
  
They walked for a minute, until Tanya stopped. She opened a door, “Doctor Field? Kelly Jackson is here.”    
  
A voice came out of the room, “Great, let her in.”    
  
Tanya pushed the door open, so Paul could fit the wheelchair through the opening. She closed the door and Emma saw her walk away through the window.    
  
Dr. Field looked at them, “So, you’re Kelly.” He shook Emma’s hand and turned to Paul, “That means you must be Ben.” Paul nodded and shook his hand. “And you’re coming from Hatchetfield? A good friend of mine lives there. Maybe you know him, his name is Henry.”    
  
Emma shrugged, “I don’t think I know him…” “That’s fine. Two of my friends went to visit him around two weeks ago, I haven’t spoken to them yet, but I’m sure they had a great time! Anyway, he teaches biology, well, he used to, I don’t know if he still does. I haven’t spoken to him in such a long time, I should call him again.”    
  
Emma swallowed, “Wait, you’re not talking about professor Hidgens, are you?”    
  
“Yes! That’s him! Do you know him?” Emma sighed, “I do, he is, well, never mind.”    
  
It was silent in the room for a minute, Emma thought about the death of her professor. She looked around the room and saw a nametag with the initials M. Field.    
  
”Wait… What’s your name?” she asked.    
  
Dr. Field smiled, “I’m Mark, Mark Field.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OooooOOoooO plot twist
> 
> Please leave comments they make me really happy :)


	6. Emma's Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidgens is dead.

Emma looked at Paul, Paul was obviously confused and looked back at her. Emma cleared her throat, “Eh, doctor Field, I think there’s something you should know about professor Hidgens… He, and those friends you were talking about, what were their names? Stewie?”    
  
“Stu?” the doctor corrected her.    
  
“Yes. And, eh…”    
  
“Greg.” Everyone was silent for a few seconds.    
  
“They’re dead.”    
  
The doctor gasped, “What? I… How do you-” “They died.” Emma interrupted him, “I saw it happen.”    
  
They were quiet for around a minute; it was an awkward silence. A tear rolled down the cheek of doctor Field, who quickly wiped it away, “Thank you for telling me.” He stood up from his chair, “Let me take a look at your leg.”    
  
Paul walked towards Mark, “Are you sure you’re okay?”    
  
“I’m perfectly fine!” the doctor said, a bit too aggressive for someone who’s perfectly fine. “Let me take a look at your leg.” he repeated.    
  
Paul helped Emma sit on a table and smiled at her, “It’s okay.” he whispered. Dr. Field took the bandage off her leg, his hands were shaking.    
  
Emma bit on her lip; it hurt a lot, but she was too scared to say something about it. Mark threw the bandage in the trash and looked at the wound, which was bleeding again. “That’s a huge wound you got there. What happened?”    
  
Emma sighed, “There was an apocalypse in Hatchetfield, and we were the only survivors. Long story short: we tried to escape in a helicopter, but the pilot was evil and we crashed, but I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt. It went really fast.”    
  
Dr. Field chuckled, “Always wear seatbelts.”    
  
Emma rolled with her eyes, “I know, but that won’t help right now.” The doctor walked to his desk and opened a drawer. He took a small flask out of it and took the lid off. He filled a pipette with the liquid that was in it, his hands were shaking so heavily it was a miracle he didn’t spill anything on the floor.    
  
Emma was scared and looked at Paul. Paul was looking at the what the doctor was doing, after a few seconds he looked at Emma, when he saw she was looking at him he grabbed her hand and whispered: “It’s okay, I’m here, I’ll be there for you.”    
  
Dr. Field walked towards them, holding the pipette filled with a purple liquid in his hand. “Kelly, wait, no, I’m just going to call you Emma, that’s easier. Emma, listen to me.” he said, “I have to clean the wound. It will hurt. A lot, probably.” Emma looked down; she was so scared that she couldn’t even think properly. “Just try to hold your leg still. It’ll be done after a few minutes.”    
  
Emma closed her eyes; she didn’t even care anymore. Everything she loved was gone: her house, her friends, her cat. When she thought about her cat, she didn’t know if she got happy or sad. It was a beautiful, white cat his eyes were both a different color, his name was Alex. Was he dead? Emma didn’t know.    
  
She felt Paul squeeze in her hand. She opened her eyes and looked at him, he smiled at her, “Try to relax, it’ll be over before you know.” Emma rested her head against his chest, he stroked her hair. She felt safe with him, even though they’ve only known each other for a few weeks.    
  
The doctor had put on some of those plastic gloves. Emma closed her eyes and grabbed Paul’s shirt, “Paul, I’m scared.”    
  
“It’s okay, I’m here.” He wrapped his arms around her.    
  
A few seconds later she felt something cold dripping onto her leg. It relieved the pain at first, but soon it started to feel like her leg was on fire. She grabbed hold of Paul’s shirt, he was whispering sweet words to her, trying to calm her down, while Emma squealed in pain.


	7. Scared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma freaks out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter but I like the flashback

Emma tried not to cry, she already cried so much the past few days. The pain in her leg came to a point where it was almost unbearable. Paul was still talking to her, in an attempt to calm her down, but Emma didn’t even hear a word he said.    
  
When she thought she was going to pass out, the pain stopped getting worse. It was still there, but she could tolerate it for at least a few more minutes. Tears rolled down Emma’s cheeks.    
  
Dr. Field rinsed her leg with lukewarm water, what immediately relieved the pain to a more tolerable level. She sighed in relief and wiped her tears away with the back of her hands.    
  
Emma looked at her own leg, but immediately looked away. Doctors of the hospital in Clivesdale had taken care of her leg, but she couldn’t walk in it for long, they made that really clear. But she fell on her leg and apparently it had started bleeding again. Now that dr. Field disinfected the wound, it looked a bit better, but it still looked really gross. Emma started feeling sick, how do doctors deal with this every day?    
  
Dr. Field smiled, “It’s done.” Emma was still leaning against Paul, she still felt like she could pass out at any moment.    
  
“Emma?” he said, while gently pushing her away. Emma moaned softly, she suddenly felt how tired she was.    
  
“Paul, I’m tired.”    
  
Paul smiled at her and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, dr. Field pushed him away and looked Emma in the eyes, “Emma, it’s good that you’re tired. I’m going to make you fall asleep and I will give your leg some stitches.”    
  
He grabbed a syringe out of a drawer. “No!” Emma screamed. The last two times she saw one of those, it was when she thought someone would kill her with it. One being professor Hidgens trying to kidnap her, the other being when someone found her while Paul was trying to destroy the meteor.   
  
  
  
_ Emma was lying on the cold, wet ground. How long had Paul been gone? It could be five minutes or an hour, she didn’t know.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She was becoming dizzy; she’d probably lost a lot of blood. Emma did everything to stay conscious, she knew that if she’d pass out, there would be a huge chance that she wouldn’t wake up anymore.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She saw the crashed helicopter next to her. Was Zoey’s body still in it? Did she escape?  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She saw a man in the distance. Emma didn’t know whether he was infected or not, but she was too tired to worry about it. Besides, she’d die anyway.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ The man came towards her, Emma’s heart beat in her chest. He talked into a walkie talkie, “Judy, I found someone.”  _ _   
_ _ A female voice sounded through the walkie talkie, “Is he or she infected?”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma shook her head, but the man didn’t look at her.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “I don’t think so.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Okay, you know what to do.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ The man kneeled next to her, “Try to relax.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Before she could say something, Emma felt a cold needle being inserted into her shoulder and her eyes closed. _ _   
_ _   
_ _   
_ __   
Dr. Field tried to calm her down, “Emma, it’s okay, it will hurt for about two seconds and then you won’t feel anything.”    
  
“You don’t understand!” she shouted at him.    
  
The doctor sighed, “Emma, please, just try to relax.”    
  
Paul pulled Emma into a hug and held her tightly, “Calm down, it’s okay.”    
  
Emma felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, before she fell asleep in Paul’s arms.


	8. Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma is mad.

When Emma woke up, it took her awhile to remember where she was and what had happened. She was in a hospital bed, alone in a dark room. She threw the sheets of her and saw a bandage wrapped around her leg. Emma tried to sit up, but as soon as she moved her leg, she moaned in pain.    
  
She heard people talking in the corridor, but she couldn't hear a word they said. The door opened and dr. Field came in, together with a nurse. When he saw that Emma was looking at him, he smiled, “Emma, you're awake.” he said, like she didn't know that already.    
  
Emma avoided making eye contact with him. Dr. Field sighed, “Vanessa, can you give us a minute?” Emma heard the nurse walk away; the door closed. “Emma, I can see why you're mad at me.” the doctor said, “But I did what was best for you.” Emma didn't respond, she just looked at the bandage around her leg.    
  
After a short silence, she finally said something, “Where is Paul?”    
  
Dr. Field sighed, “Emma, please talk to me.”    
  
“Where is Paul?” Emma repeated.    
  
“He is with colonel Schaffer; I think she wants to see you too. I'm going to go find her and tell her you're awake.” He walked away. Great. Talking to colonel Schaffer. That's the last thing she wants right now.    
  
She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, until she heard the door open. Emma looked down, expecting it was the colonel, but she heard Paul's voice, “Em?”    
  
She looked at him, tears filled her eyes, “Oh my god, Paul!” She was still lying on her back in the bed, not being able to move her leg.    
  
Paul sat next to her and stroked her hair. Emma started crying, she didn't know why, she just did. Paul tried to calm her down, “Emma, don’t cry… It’s okay, you’re safe.”    
  
Emma tried to calm down, but she just couldn’t stop crying. “Paul, it’s just… I’m so scared and-” she sat up, ignoring the pain in her leg, she was already crying anyway.    
  
Paul held her in a tight embrace, “I know… It’s okay... I’ve talked to colonel Schaffer and she said there’s a small house where we’re going to live when we get out of here, we also get some money to get back on track, because we had to leave everything. But that can wait until later.” Emma let him go, he smiled at her. “She also wanted to talk to you, but I said you’d probably wouldn’t be in the mood for that right now.”    
  
Emma sighed in relief, she’d finally stopped crying and wiped her tears away, “Thank you, you’re definitely right, that would be the last thing I want right now.”    
  
Paul laughed, “Emma, I think you should get some rest.” He stood up from the bed.    
  
“No, Paul, please don’t leave.”    
  
Paul sighed, “Emma, I really want to stay and be there for you, but I promised colonel Schaffer to help her figure out what we’ll do next.”    
  
Emma tried to hold back her tears, “Okay.” she said, her voice was shaking.    
  
“I’ll be back when we’re done.” Paul smiled at her and he walked away. Emma stared at the wall, thinking about everything that she had to leave behind.    
  
Her thoughts got interrupted by the door that opened. The nurse that was sent away by dr. Field stepped inside. She looked a bit younger than Emma, probably around 27. The nurse, whose name was Vanessa, cleared her throat, Emma looked at her. “Miss Jackson.”    
  
Ugh, Emma hated her new name so much.    
  
“You’ll have to stay in the hospital for at least a few more days. But here at PEIP we do a few things a bit different. There are a few normal rooms at the end of the corridor, someone can stay there while you’re in the hospital. We do this because most of the people who come here have been through some traumatizing things, and may need some support while they’re here. Would you like me to get a room for Mr. Bridges? I already talked to him about it and he’d want to do it if you’d like it.”    
  
Emma nodded, “Yes please.” She stayed calm, but she was actually so happy that at least she wouldn’t have to be here all on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll upload a bit less, because I'm doing the NaNoWriMo challenge next month, so I probably won't have enough time to work on this story.
> 
> So I'll upload less frequent so I can still post in November :)


	9. Rules & restrictions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma is mad at PEIP

It was already morning, which meant Emma had been unconscious for the entire night. Despite that, she was so tired that she almost immediately fell asleep when the nurse left.    
  
A knock on the door woke her up, she startled and immediately sat up straight, causing her leg to hurt so much that she almost fainted.    
  
Colonel Schaffer came inside. She grabbed a chair and put it next to Emma’s bed. When she sat down, she looked Emma in the eyes without saying anything for a few seconds, making Emma feel extremely uncomfortable.    
  
The colonel couched, “Kelly.” she said, “There are a few things that I want to point out before you're starting your life as Kelly Jackson, here in Colorado.” She got a clipboard out of her bag, “First of all: you can't talk to anyone about what happened in Hatchetfield, except maybe your friend Ben.” She winked at her, which made Emma feel even more uncomfortable. “And another thing: you can't talk to anyone you knew before the apotheosis. All your fr-”    
  
“Wait.” Emma interrupted her, “What do you mean 'I can't talk to anyone I knew beforehand' I have the right to talk to my family!”    
  
The colonel sighed, “You do not. As I was saying: all your friends and family have been informed that you died in the catastrophe.”    
  
“What…”    
  
Colonel Schaffer grabbed something: it was Emma’s phone. “I deleted all your contacts.” She handed Emma the phone.    
  
Emma couldn’t believe it, “You broke into my phone?”    
  
The colonel laughed, “We’re the government.” she said, “We do what is best for the people.”    
  
Emma was furious, but she controlled her temper. “Anything else?” she asked calmly.    
  
The colonel handed her the clipboard, “Everything you’ll have to know is in here. If you have any questions, I wrote my phone number on the first page.”    
  
Without saying anything more, she put the chair back next to the small table and left the room. The nurse, Vanessa, immediately entered, carrying a glass of water and a few pills. She gave them to Emma, “Those are some painkillers, and this one is to prevent any infections. Doctor Field disinfected your leg, but we’ll also give you this, just in case.” Emma took the pills and drank the entire glass of water. The nurse nodded, “Try to get some sleep, doctor Field wants to see you this afternoon. I’ll wake you up at 2 o’clock.” She smiled and walked away, but Emma couldn’t sleep.    
  
She thought about everything the colonel had said. After a while, she decided to look through the papers colonel Schaffer had given her. She flicked through the pages, until she got so mad that she just couldn’t read any more. According to these files, all her social media accounts had been deleted, making any contact with her old friends, who weren’t dead, nearly impossible. She was allowed to make new accounts though, but she couldn’t add any of her old friends or family members. Apparently, she’d also gotten a new phone number, which was written on a sticky note and stuck onto the page.    
  
Emma was furious, hadn’t she been through enough already? Did they really have to take away the last bit of her past? And besides that, who gave them the right to just break into her phone like that? They allowed themselves probably, it was the government, they wouldn’t need any permission.    
  
Emma laid down and started crying. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This book has the tag "Hidgens" and I promise he'll be there in a few chapters just wait :)


	10. Your blood is red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Paul infected?

After a while, the door opened. “Emma, are you awake?” Paul whispered.    
  
Emma quickly wiped her tears away, “Yes.” Paul smiled, walked towards the bed and sat down. Emma avoided making eye contact with him, she just buried her face in the blankets. Was that childish of her? Yes, but she couldn’t care less.    
  
“Emma? Can I talk to you?” Emma looked up; her eyes red from all the crying. “Are you okay?”    
  
Emma shrugged, “I’m fine. I don’t want to bother you with my feelings.”    
  
Paul grabbed her hand, “Hey… Emma, you’re not bothering me, I want to be here for you. I know you’re having a difficult time. I mean, I am too, but you’re the one that needs the most help right now.” Emma started crying again, but this time it was just because she was so happy that she didn’t have to go through all this alone.    
  
“Paul?” she started, “How did you know the lyrics and choreography? I mean, I know that the entire hive can communicate with each other, but you weren’t one of them. Right?”    
  
Paul sighed; she saw in his face that he was thinking of how to formulate the answer to her question. “Emma. Don’t freak out, okay? I was infected. I still am, in some way. I can still hear some sort of buzzing sound coming from the hive, even though they’ve been defeated. I got an appointment this afternoon, to see what they can do about it. But anyway, I wasn’t infected by one of them, but by the air that surrounded the meteor. I think that I got away there soon enough to remain conscious of my own actions, but also knowing what they would do. Don’t worry, I can’t infect you, or anyone else.”    
  
Emma bit her lip, not really knowing what to do next. She knew he was infected, even though he wasn’t singing, but he showed that she could trust him when he saved her, right? Or was it some sort of trick to gain her trust?    
  
All of the sudden, she knew what to do. She smacked the now empty glass on the small table next to her bed, it broke in a few pieces. Emma grabbed Paul’s wrist tightly. “Hold still.” She commanded. She grabbed a piece of glass and brought it towards his arm.    
  
“What? Emma, are you insane?” he shouted, while trying to pull his arm away. But Emma tightened her grip, slowly making a little cut, until a drop of blood appeared. Red.    
  
She relaxed, “Sorry… I just had to know… You know, if your blood was blue or red… You really can’t infect me, right?”    
  
Paul sighed; it was obvious that he was a bit angry. He stroked Emma’s hair, “I promise. It’s okay… I understand. But no dangerous weapons used against me anymore, okay?” He wiped the blood away with a tissue.    
  
Emma smiled, “Deal.” She laid down again, “Paul, I’m tired, I think I’ll try to sleep.” She grabbed her phone to look at the time. 1:45 PM. Shit. The nurse would wake her up at two. “Paul?” Paul, who was already at the door, ready to leave the room, turned around. “Will you stay here? Please? By the way, I’m not going to sleep, since doctor Field is coming in fifteen minutes.”    
  
Paul smiled at her, “Of course I’ll stay.” He walked to the bed and sat down again. Emma was struggling to sit up against the back of the bed, so he helped her. He then sat down next to her, after putting a pillow behind her back. Emma rested her head on his shoulder. She still couldn’t believe that it had only been three weeks since they properly met, and two of which they didn’t even see each other. But despite that, she was happy that of all people, he was the person she’d get to spend time with after this horrible event in their lives.    
  
“Em?” Paul asked, “There’s one thing I don’t understand. Why do they give you a house and me nothing? I don’t want to seem ungrateful or something, I just don’t get it.”    
  
Emma sighed, “I don’t know.” That was a lie. The way the colonel winked at her while saying ‘your friend Ben’ or of course what she said when they first met:  _ PEIP would like to see it become something more. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise they'll be out the hospital soon!
> 
> Next chapter is gonna be very sad...


	11. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma receives a note

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...  
Eh...
> 
> I hope you have tissues nearby.

Emma must have fallen asleep. Her head was still resting on Paul’s shoulder. Awkward. He had put an arm around her and he had probably felt her move, “Em?” he whispered, in case she was still asleep.    
  
Emma groaned softly. “Paul? What time is it?” Paul stroked her hair, “Almost half past three. Did you sleep well?”    
  
“What? But the nurse would come at two... Did she come here?”    
  
Paul smiled, “No Emma, she hasn’t been here. Would you like me to go look where she is?” Emma nodded. Just when Paul stood up, they heard footsteps in the corridor, the door opened.    
  
Emma expected it to be dr. Field or the nurse, but colonel Schaffer appeared. She walked towards them, handed Emma an envelope and left again, without saying a word.    
  
Emma and Paul looked at each other. “What was that all about?” Paul asked.    
  
Emma shrugged. She looked at the envelope in her hands, her name - well, not  _ her _ name, but the name PEIP expected her to use - was written in a shaky handwriting. She sighed and opened it. There was a note. Emma’s eyes flew over the page, tears welling up in her eyes.    
  
  


Dear Emma,   
  
Thank you for telling me that 3 of my best friends died. I suppose they reunited with Chad, a friend of ours, who passed away almost ten years ago. I will follow them now.   
Thank you.   
  
Mark   
  
  


She read it over and over again, but it still said the same thing. “Emma? What’s wrong?” Paul asked.    
  
“He…” She sobbed.    
  
“Can I read it?” Emma nodded. She handed it to Paul. When he finished reading, he sat down next to Emma and wrapped his arms around her, “It’s not your fault. He just-”    
  
“It is my fault, Paul!” Emma shouted, “If I hadn’t told him, this would never have happened!”    
  
Paul hugged her tighter, “Emma, you did the right thing by telling him.”    
  
Emma curled up against him, “Paul, I just want to go home.” she cried.    
  
Paul stroked her hair, “I know, Em. I do too…” They sat like this for a while, Emma crying and Paul trying to comfort her. Emma’s eyes were heavy, and she would’ve fallen asleep if another doctor wouldn’t have come into the room.    
  
He introduced himself as Liam Robinson. “I’ll be your new doctor, since doctor Field… Uh…” An unpleasant silence filled the room. “Anyway, we’ll get you walking again as soon as we can. I’ll come in an hour.”    
  
He walked away and colonel Schaffer almost immediately entered. Could she never have a moment of rest? “I see you’ve met doctor Robinson?” she said, “Ben. You have to go.” she tapped on her watch.    
  
“Oh, right. Sorry Em- Kelly, I’ll be back, I don’t know how long it will take.” He ran away.    
  
The colonel walked towards Emma, holding a scanner with a small needle attached to it. “Give me your arm.”    
  
“What?”    
  
“We have to do a blood test to see if you are infected.”    
  
“I’m not infected! You know that! I’m not singing!”    
  
“Arm.” the colonel demanded. Emma gave her arm and the colonel held her wrist tightly. She pushed the needle into the vein and a green check mark appeared on the screen. “Good.” Colonel Schaffer muttered. “We’ll send someone to do these tests every month, for at least a year.” She left Emma alone in the room.    
  
Emma couldn’t wait to get out of this place, she didn’t want to move to a new house, but everything was better than staying in this hospital. She eventually fell asleep, but she had nightmares about the apocalypse and dr. Field kept appearing in her dreams.    
  
Paul woke her up. “Emma, were you having a nightmare?” His voice immediately calmed her down.    
  
“Yeah…”    
  
Paul smiled. “You slept for three hours, doctor Robinson thought that you might need the rest, so he let you sleep.”    
  
Emma sighed. “Paul?”    
  
Paul grabbed her hand. “Yes?”    
  
“I love you.” She said it before she realized it.    
  
Paul softly squeezed her hand, “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sOrry
> 
> I was proofreading this 3 minutes ago and my dog tried to cheer me up because I was crying.


	12. Secrets & bandages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma is allowed to leave

After a week in the hospital, Emma was pretty annoyed with everything and everyone. So when dr. Robinson came into her room to tell her that they would do a few more tests and if they turned out good enough, she could go home in the evening, she was very excited.    
  
Emma had developed a fear of injections during the apocalypse, which wasn’t really strange seeing what had happened, but she was so happy that she even smiled when a nurse did a blood test.    
  
“Go to sleep, doctor Robinson will come to change your bandages when you wake up.”    
  
Emma fell asleep and eventually woke up to Paul’s voice on the corridor, “What do you mean?”    
  
She heard the doctor answering his question, “Okay, let me explain: she actually isn’t really ready to go home. But there are some problems at PEIP, so for your own safety you have to go home. I just didn’t tell her, because she probably couldn’t handle much more stress right now. We’re a bit scared that someone is planning to attack PEIP. But, anyway, just make sure she doesn’t do anything with that leg. Oh, and make sure she takes the antibiotics that I’ll give her. Change her bandages every week. And if it’s really necessary, here. Inject this into her leg if it’s looking too bad. I’ll make sure to send someone when it’s a bit safer.”    
  
Emma didn’t really have the time to think about what she heard, because she heard footsteps and dr. Robinson entered the room. Emma pretended to wake up; she didn’t want him to know that she heard them. “Did you sleep well?” He opened the curtains, that someone probably closed while she was asleep.    
  
She rubbed her eyes, “What? Oh. Yeah, I did…”    
  
He smiled, “Great. I’m going to change your bandages, okay?” Emma nodded. The doctor began to unwrap the bandages.    
  
Emma dug her nails into the bed when they stuck to the dried blood. Her leg felt weird without the pressure of the bandages. “It looks a bit better! But I’ll rinse it with some water anyway.” He helped Emma into her wheelchair and pushed her to the bath.   
  
Emma stretched her leg and dr. Robinson let the water stream over her leg. It hurt a lot, but it also felt nicely cold after sweating in bandages for a week. “I’m going to wrap the new bandages pretty tightly, so it might hurt a bit.” he said, reaching for some bandages. “You can go home after this.”    
  
A forced smile appeared on Emma’s face. “Kelly? Is there something wrong?” A silence filled the room. “You heard me and Ben talking, didn’t you?” Emma nodded. The doctor sighed, “Look, Kelly, there are some things happening that make it very unsafe for you and Ben to stay here. I can’t tell you everything. I suppose colonel Schaffer will tell you about it after we made sure you’re safe. In the meantime we just have to make sure everyone who can go home goes home.”    
  
He began to wrap the bandages around her leg, Emma bit her lip. “But please, Kelly,” he continued, “Don’t try to walk or anything like that. If you’ll ruin your leg any more than this, there’s probably nothing we can do.” He made sure the bandage was secure and handed Emma her bag, “I’ve put all your stuff and paperwork in here. Now let’s go, Ben is waiting for you.”    
  
Dr. Robinson pushed the wheelchair through the corridor, Paul was waiting on a small couch at the end of it. He immediately stood up when he saw them. He smiled at Emma.    
  
The doctor cleared his throat. “Ben. Kelly knows why she’s leaving. Take good care of her. And Kelly, remember what I’ve said: no walking.” He grabbed a small box from a table and gave it to her, “Here are antibiotics and painkillers, enough for about a month. Good luck with your new home.” He turned around and walked away.    
  
Paul smiled at Emma, “Are you ready to go home?”    
  
Emma nodded, “I am so ready to leave this fucking hospital.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're finally out of there yayy


	13. A new adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma & Paul explore their new house.

Paul and Emma were both silent on the way to their house. It had taken a while for Paul to figure out how to fit the wheelchair in the car. When they finally left, Paul was very annoyed. They drove to the address that was written on Emma’s deed. It was a beautiful farm, it was huge, way bigger than Emma’s apartment back in Hatchetfield.    
  
Emma saw Paul instantly get in a better mood. “Ready to explore?” he asked. Emma nodded. Paul got out of the car and helped her get into the wheelchair. Emma patiently waited until he had locked the car and opened the front door. Paul pushed the wheelchair inside. They went through a small hall and they got in a huge living room.    
  
“Wow...” Emma said. There was a big couch facing a tv, a smaller couch next to the TV, a dining table, a desk with a computer on it and a bookshelf with a lot of books and some DVD’s. The walls were a beautiful pastel pink. “This is amazing.” she said.    
  
“It is beautiful.” Paul agreed. The only other room on the first story was the bathroom, it had dark green tiles and a light grey floor, the mirror on the wall showed how tired Emma looked. Emma laughed at herself, she had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was tangled.    
  
Paul pushed her back towards the living room, “It doesn’t seem like there’s a bedroom downstairs, and I don’t know if we should risk you getting up the stairs all the time...”    
  
Emma agreed, “I think I’ll sleep on the couch...” Paul smiled. Emma really didn’t want to be alone, but she was too scared to ask if Paul would sleep with her.    
  
“Emma? Would you like me to sleep downstairs so you’re not alone?”    
  
Emma chuckled, “Can you read my mind?”    
  
Paul smiled and walked up the stairs. He came back down with some blankets and pillows, smiling from ear to ear. “This house is amazing! There are three bedrooms, a study room and an empty room upstairs.”    
  
Emma smiled, “I’d like to go upstairs tomorrow, just one time, to see it.”    
  
“I’ll help you, I’m sure you’ll love it.” Paul agreed, “But it’s getting late, and I think we both need sleep.”    
  
Emma smiled, leaving the thought of not wanting to move behind. Paul lifted her out of the wheelchair and put her down on the smaller couch. “Hey! I want the big couch! I’m tall enough!” she teased, “Just kidding.” She laughed, she felt safe here.    
  
“I’ll go grab some water.” Paul said, walking to the kitchen. It felt nice to just be alone with him, without always having at least one doctor or nurse around. Paul came back with two glasses of water and put them on the table. He walked outside and came back with Emma’s bag. “Here.” he said, handing her a pill he got out of the box dr. Robinson had given them.    
  
Emma smiled as she accepted it, grabbed one of the glasses and drank all of the water. “Paul? I’m not tired.”    
  
Paul walked to the bookshelf, “Want to watch a movie? You still owe me one.”    
  
“What? No, I don’t.” “Don’t you remember? Before I left you to go to the theatre, before you spit in my face, you said you’d like to see a movie with me.”    
  
Emma blushed, “Sure. You pick a nice one.”    
  
He looked at the films that they had. “Have you seen Harry Potter?”    
  
Emma giggled, “Of course! I mean, have you even lived if you haven’t seen or read Harry Potter? I’m a Slytherin, what about you?”    
  
Paul awkwardly scratched his neck, “Well… To be honest…”    
  
“Don’t tell me you don’t know Harry Potter.”    
  
“That’s exactly what I was about to say.”    
  
Emma laughed, “Okay. Are you ready? We’ll watch all eight movies in the next twenty hours.”    
  
Paul smiled, “Let’s just start with part one. Which one is it?”    
  
“Depends. Is it the British or American version? It’s called either Philosopher’s stone or Sorcerer’s stone.”    
  
“This one is called Sorcerer’s stone.” he said, while putting the disk in the DVD-player. He moved Emma to the other couch so she could see the TV and sat down next to her. The movie started playing.    
  
Emma really liked the movie, but she was too tired to leave her eyes open and after 20 minutes she fell asleep, leaning against Paul.


	14. Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schaffer calls Emma and tells her about a murderer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tom Carter and Tom Houston from Black Friday are different people! I wrote this fanfiction before Black Friday was announced so I didn't know there'd be a canon character named Tom. (I got a few comments about this so I just wanted to make it extra clear)

When Emma woke up, the sun was shining through the curtains. She was still laying on top of Paul, who had put a protective arm around her. In other circumstances, she would probably be embarrassed by the position they were in, but she just felt safe in his arms.    
  
Paul muttered in his sleep, but Emma couldn’t understand what he was talking about. She laid there for a few more minutes, listening to Paul’s muttering and the birds outside.    
  
She noticed that Paul’s breathing became faster and his muttering more stressed. He was probably having a nightmare. Paul’s arms wrapped tighter around her. “No, please don’t, no, please, I’m begging you.”    
  
“Paul!” she screamed. His eyes opened.    
  
“What… You were… I…”    
  
“Paul, it’s fine, it was just a dream.” Emma laid her head down on his chest, and listened to his breathing slowly became normal again. “Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” Emma asked after a few minutes.    
  
Paul sighed before answering, “I’m fine, it’s just… I was reliving that moment in the hospital, but this time we got separated and-” He went silent.    
  
“It’s okay, I’m here, you’re here, we’re alive.” Paul smiled and calmed down.    
  
After they had some breakfast with the oatmeal that they found in the kitchen, Paul came up with a plan. “I know that you don’t want to separate, me neither, but we really need some food and I need a new phone. And I think it’ll be faster if I did groceries by myself. Is that okay?”    
  
Emma nodded, “Could you also get me some clothes? I don’t care about what it is, as long I can wear something else than my work uniform I have been wearing for a month.”    
  
Paul grabbed a piece of paper and wrote it down, “Anything else? Do you have any allergies?”    
  
”Nope.”    
  
He gave her an awkward kiss on her forehead and left.    
  
So there she was, alone. She bit her nails, an old habit she had when she was stressed, but she hadn’t done it in years. She just sat on the couch and winced at every sound she heard. After a while, her phone rang. She expected it to be colonel Schaffer, since she was the only one who knew her new phone number. She was right, and pressed the green button.    
  
“Kelly!” the colonel shouted, while Emma adjusted her volume, why did that woman always talk so loudly?    
  
“Are you at the house?” she asked.    
  
“Yes, Paul is doing groceries, but I’m home.”    
  
There was a short silence, she heard the colonel breathe heavily. “You mean Ben. Anyway, listen to me, there is someone trying to kill both of you.”   
  
”What?” Emma interrupted.    
  
“Let me finish. There’s a guy that worked for PEIP until a week ago, when he committed a murder. He thought that if we didn’t want information to leak, every survivor must die. Of course, he got fired, but we suspect that he saved the information about those people, because three days ago, four other survivors were found dead.”    
  
“So that means that…”    
  
“It means that until we caught him, you and Ben are in danger. The name of this man is Tom Carter, but we think he also gets help from his wife Michelle. I will send you a picture of them, so you know what they look like. But I have to call some other people now.”    
  
“Okay, thank y-” Emma heard something that sounded like a gunshot coming from her phone. “Colonel?” The same sound again, this time followed by the sound of the phone falling. “Colonel!” Screaming.    
  
She heard a hysterical voice, “Colonel Schaffer! Schaffer!” The call ended.    
  
What just happened? Was the colonel dead? And what about that man who was about to kill her? Even worse: Paul was alone, outside.    
  
Emma started panicking. What if Paul never got back? She tried to calm herself down with the thought that the killer would be at the PEIP office, and not at the mall.   
  
However, tears started streaming down her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hidgens will make an appearance next chapter :)


	15. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul comforts Emma and someone's at the door

Emma’s breathing got faster and faster. She knew that feeling: she was getting a panic attack. It had been years since she got one for the last time, it was during class with professor Hidgens, and he had dismissed the class and helped her through it.   
  
Emma tried to control her breathing, but she forgot how to do that and it only got worse. Her phone fell on the ground. She didn’t even hear the door.   
  
“Emma, I got- Emma?” Paul ran towards her and sat down next to her. “I need you to breathe slowly, okay?” he said, “Just follow my lead.” he pulled her against his chest, so she could mimic his breathing.   
  
After a few minutes, when she finally calmed down, he stroked her hair, “What happened?”   
  
Tears streamed down Emma’s cheeks, “I thought you were dead.”   
  
Paul adjusted the way he was sitting so he could look into her eyes, “Why would you think that?”   
  
“The colonel just called and she told me that there’s a guy that wants to kill everyone that survived an apocalypse. And then I heard her fall down and people screamed and I think she’s dead and-”   
  
She sobbed, Paul hugged her, “Emma, we’re in this together, we’ll survive this and try to live a normal life.” he said, but Emma could hear that he also tried to convince himself.   
  
Emma closed her eyes and felt Paul’s breathing in her neck. “I’m sorry for freaking out...”   
  
Paul pulled her closer to him, “It’s okay.” he said, while stroking her hair, “Of course, this isn’t how I imagined, but-”   
  
Emma looked at him, “Imagined what?”   
  
Paul awkwardly avoided eye contact, “Well… You know… Us.”   
  
A smile appeared on Emma’s lips, “You imagined us together?”   
  
Paul’s face got bright red, “Yeah… I mean, I didn’t even know your name, but I had a massive crush on you.”   
  
“You mean on the crappy barista that spent most of her time shouting at customers?”   
  
Paul smiled, “Exactly.” A short silence followed.   
  
“Well, then you’re very lucky that I am literally laying on top of you right now.”   
  
“Of course I am!” Paul kissed her forehead. Emma smiled. “Emma? Do you want to tell me what the colonel said?” Emma nodded.   
  
She explained everything she knew. Paul was trying to comfort her, because Emma freaked out when she realized that the colonel had said that she still had to call other people, who wouldn’t know they were in danger now she couldn’t tell them. Emma eventually calmed down and Paul kept stroking her hair.   
  
“I forgot to ask.” Emma said, “What did PEIP do to you to get rid of the alien thing?”   
  
Paul sighed, as if recalling an unpleasant memory.   
  
“It's okay if you don't want to talk about it…” Emma said quickly.   
  
“No, it's fine. I don't even know, they didn’t really explain anything, and besides that, I was unconscious for the majority of the time.”   
  
Emma looked at him, “What? Why?”   
  
Paul stared into her eyes, “It hurt a lot and my screaming distracted the doctors, so they knocked me out.”   
  
Emma buried her face into Paul’s shirt, she didn’t even care that he smelled like sweat.   
  
“But, they tested my blood after I woke up, and it’s clean!”   
  
Emma smiled, “That’s great news!” She curled up against him, shivering when she moved her leg. “Ugh, why am I so tired all the time?”   
  
Paul stroked her hair, “Emma, you’re on a lot of medication, I would be surprised if you weren’t tired.”   
  
He smiled, “You can sleep if you want to.” Emma nodded, she didn’t really want to sleep at 1 PM, but her eyes were already starting to get heavy.  
  
  
She woke up to the sound of the doorbell, she looked at the clock and saw she had been asleep for over 2 hours.   
  
Paul carefully pushed her away and walked towards the front door. Emma heard him talking with someone, a familiar voice, but her sleepy head couldn’t place it.   
  
Paul came back, “Emma, look who’s here!”   
  
When she saw the other man enter the room, she rubbed her eyes. But it was real: he was alive, and standing right in front of her: professor Hidgens. “No! I don’t trust you! You got us killed! You-”   
  
The professor interrupted her, “Emma, I’m here. I’m not infected. I’m sorry for my past behavior.” Emma looked at Paul, he shrugged. Professor Hidgens also looked at Paul, then back at Emma. After putting his bags down he walked towards her. “Emma. You know you can trust me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have two more prewritten chapters, so until chapter 17. When I started uploading this, I had 16 prewritten chapters. Let's get to work XD


	16. *Flashback*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Emma and Hidgens met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very cliché I know

_ Thirteen-year-old Emma unlocked the door of the apartment. She inhaled the smell of alcohol. Her mom was currently in the hospital after a heart attack, her father was an alcoholic.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Luckily, he'd go under supervision tomorrow, to help him with his addiction. Jane, her four-year older sister, would stay with a friend. Emma didn't have a lot of friends, definitely not close ones. But she once had a substitute at her school, a professor from the college in Hatchetfield.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma was always silent in class, but this guy immediately noticed something was wrong. She didn't know how, he just knew. He spoke to their normal teacher about it, and when the teacher told him about the situation she was in, he immediately offered to help. She would go to him while her father was in the clinic. They had met a few times, to get to know each other. He was a nice and caring guy.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Jane ran towards her, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. “Emma! Leave! Dad is drunk again, and he was looking for you, and you know that's never good, especially when he's drunk.” Jane pulled Emma into a hug. “I'll text you when it's safe, okay?” Emma nodded and walked back outside.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Before she could close the door, she heard her father scream, “Jane! Who was at the door?” He walked into the hall. Emma tried to close the door before he saw her, but it was too late.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma tried to run away, but the door opened and after a few seconds she felt someone grab the back of her shirt. She was dragged into the house and her father pushed her against the wall, “Where were you?” he shouted.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Dad, please, no!” Jane screamed.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Go to your room, Jane!” he shouted at her, pushing Emma's shoulders even harder against the wall. Her dad would never hurt Jane, she was his little princess. Emma, however, was not. His face came closer to hers. “Answer me. Where were you?”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma was too scared to talk. “I went… grocery shopping. Just like you asked.” she finally managed to say, holding up the bag in her hand.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Her father let her go, her shoulders were definitely going to bruise. He snatched the bag out of her hands. “Go make dinner.” He gestured to the kitchen.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma walked to the kitchen, she let out a relieved sigh. She made some mac and cheese, but before she was finished, her dad ran into the kitchen.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Emma!” he shouted.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Yes, father?” she replied, hiding that she was terrified of the man.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “What is this?” he said, while holding up a bottle of beer Emma just bought.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “That’s beer.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Exactly! But it’s not the good brand you should buy. And you know that.” The man walked towards her.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Yes father, but you didn’t give me enough money to buy the brand we normally have, so I thought-”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Her father grabbed her arm, “That sounds like a good reason to use that money you’re saving.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “But father, that’s for-”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Help your dad out next time!” He let go of her arm.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “But fath-” She could see her dad getting more and more angry every second.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ He grabbed a knife from the table and threw it at Emma. She ducked aside to avoid it, but could still feel something cut the back of her arm. “Go to your room! I don’t want to see you ever again!” She ran to her room, crying.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Jane came running towards her, “Emma?” Emma ignored her. “Emma, please. What happened?” Jane asked, while grabbing her arm and looking at the cut.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma pulled her arm away, “Leave me alone. I’m leaving.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ __ “But Emma, plea-” Emma entered her own room and smashed the door closed. She locked her door, she only used the lock for emergencies, because her parents weren’t supposed to know that she had it. She grabbed her phone and a few other things. Her arm was bleeding a lot, so she put on a jacket to hide it.

  
_ Emma grabbed the piece of paper with the address of the professor from her desk and climbed out of the window. When she ran a few blocks, she finally felt safe enough to sit down for a minute. She typed the address into Google Maps. Only a few minutes away from where she was. Great.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She walked away, biting her lip while trying to ignore the increasing pain in her arm and following the instructions on Google Maps. The instructions led her to a huge house, with the name H. Hidgens engraved above the doorbell.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma pressed the doorbell and almost immediately got a response, “Who is it?”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Uh, professor, it’s me, Emma Perkins.” The door buzzed, she pushed him open and walked inside. The professor walked towards her and pulled her into a hug, Emma flinched because of the pain, but it didn’t seem like he had noticed.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Emma! I thought you’d come tomorrow!”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Emma was silent for a second, thinking of a response, “Yeah, they gave us some false information, it’s actually today.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “That’s alright! I’ll make you some tea. Come, give me your jacket.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “No! I mean… That’s not necessary, I’m cold.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Professor Hidgens laughed, “Don’t be silly, it’s hot in here.” He unzipped her jacket, despite several protests of Emma. He gasped, “Emma! What happened?!” Emma looked down; her arm was covered in blood. She collapsed against the wall. The professor helped her up.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “It’s nothing…” she said, but she knew that he wouldn’t take that answer. He led her to the dining room and gently pushed her into a chair.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Emma, please. What happened?” Emma burst into tears, and told him the whole story. Hidgens listened silently.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ When she was done, he grabbed her hand, “Emma, this is not your fault. Thank you for trusting me. I will help you. We have to call the police. Do you want that right now or do you want to do that tomorrow, so you can calm down now?”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Later.” she muttered.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ The professor smiled at her, “Can you please let me take a look at the cut?”  _ _   
_ _   
_ __ Emma nodded. She flinched when the professor touched her, but she finally felt like someone genuinely cared about her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is currently the only chapter with 1000+ words XD


	17. I'll trust you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidgens explains how he's alive.

“Fine.” Emma said, “I’ll trust you. But first explain how you got here.”    
  
The professor sighed, “Alright. I can’t remember everything about being infected, just some blurry memories. Anyway, I was infected, and still had all the knowledge I had before I got infected. I had something with me that caused that when I died, I’d return in human form. So when Paul was killing all the aliens, I injected it into my arm, with the thought that I could get myself infected again.” He rolled up the sleeve of his jacket, “It still feels numb. But anyway, I think it was two days later when I woke up, and I didn’t want to get infected again. I had a friend who worked for PEIP, and I already thought they would take care of the survivors. So I called them, and they said you survived and were here in Colorado. So I went to them yesterday evening, because they first wanted to test my blood.”    
  
Emma finally relaxed a bit, knowing that PEIP made sure he wasn’t infected. Professor Hidgens sat down on the other couch, Paul went to sit next to her and held her hand.    
  
“They told me about a certain Tom Carter, did they inform you about that?” Emma nodded, unconsciously pulling Paul closer to her. “What happened to your leg?” he asked, pointing at it.    
  
Emma sighed, “We tried to escape out of Hatchetfield in a helicopter, but the pilot was my former coworker, who was basically evil. So we crashed and I injured my leg. I’ve been in the Clivesdale hospital for two weeks, but during the fight where Paul killed most of you, I fell on it and couldn’t walk, or even stand on it anymore.” She rested her head on Paul’s shoulder. She still didn’t feel completely safe with professor Hidgens around.    
  
“Listen, I’m sorry. It just got too much, knowing that I would be responsible for you making it out alive or not.” he said.    
  
It’s like he could read her mind. “So you just wanted to get us killed?”    
  
The professor sighed, “Emma, you have to understand that I had been doing research on those  _ things _ for nearly thirty years. I just wanted to know… what it would feel like.” He stood up and lifted up his turtleneck, showing a huge scar, “But it was… not that great.”    
  
Emma looked at him in disgust, making a mental note that she’d never want to see her professor’s chest hair ever again. “Okay. I’ll believe you.” The professor smiled, pulling his clothes back down.    
  
“There are multiple bedrooms upstairs, you can use one of those.” Paul said, “We sleep here, because Emma can’t get up the stairs and I keep her company.”    
  
Professor Hidgens glanced at her. Emma rolled her eyes, “Not like that. I just don’t want to be alone right now.”    
  
“Oh, no. I wasn’t saying-”    
  
“You were thinking about it.” They both stopped arguing about it.    
  
Professor Hidgens cleared his throat, “Have you bought the essentials to survive?”    
  
“I bought some food, not a lot though. We were in the hospital until yesterday, so we didn’t really have had the time to go shopping.” Paul quickly said, glad that the subject has changed. Emma closed her eyes, leaning against him. “Em? Are you tired?” he asked.    
  
“Nah, it’s fine.” Emma replied, opening her eyes.    
  
Professor Hidgens kneeled beside her, taking her hand, “Emma, dear? Are you okay?”   
  
“I’m great. I mean, I’m a bit tired and I just want to be able to do something, but I feel great. My leg still fucking hurts though.” The professor smiled, and he and Paul went upstairs to his room.    
  
A few minutes later, Paul came back. “I got a new phone, and I was thinking, maybe it’s a good idea if we got one of those apps where you can follow your friend’s location. You know, for if something happens.” He sat down next to her, showing his brand-new iPhone.    
  
Emma nodded, “Sounds good.” They exchanged their phone numbers, for which Emma had to look into the files she was given, because she hadn’t got the time to remember it yet.    
  
Paul smiled, “You should try to sleep now.” Emma nodded as Paul walked away. She drifted away, feeling much safer now. 


	18. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They make a plan and Paul has something important to ask Emma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first time I'm posting something that my betareaders haven't read, because I finished this 2 minutes ago and they're still asleep.

A week later, Emma was finally starting to get used to her new life. She woke up on Thursday morning, stretching because the couch wasn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep on.   
  
Paul walked into the living room, breakfast in his hand. “Morning Em.” he said after swallowing his mouthful of bread. Emma sat up and smiled at him. Paul sat down next to her.   
  
Emma noticed a huge scar on his shoulder. She traced it with her finger, “How did you get this?” Paul shivered. “I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?”   
  
Paul smiled, “No, Em, it’s fine. I got this from blowing up the meteor.” Emma stared at him. Paul laughed, “What? Did you really think someone could survive such a blast and without even being injured?”   
  
“I hadn’t really thought about that.” Emma admitted, “But how on earth is it a scar already? It looks like it was a deep cut...”   
  
Paul laughed, “Being infected had some perks. Injuries healed very quickly.” Emma awkwardly smiled, she couldn’t help thinking about the fact that she was hugging a man who was basically an alien less than two weeks ago. Paul pulled her closer to him, and she just curled up against him.   
  
Professor Hidgens walked into the room. He seemed less traumatized than Paul and Emma, and he had gotten used to the fact that they were really close and went to each other for support. He smiled when he saw them curled up against each other. Emma smiled back at him. He cleared his throat. “I think we should make a better plan if we want to survive.” Paul and Emma both sat up to look at him. “Of course we could stay home and wait for our death, but we also need to eat.” Paul nodded. “Well, Emma.” the professor continued, “I think getting food and other supplies should be something Paul and I do, that would be faster.”   
  
Emma sighed, “You’re right. But I’m bored.”   
  
Professor Hidgens laughed, “You should focus on getting better first.”   
  
“If we don’t die...” Emma mumbled.   
  
“We won’t. I promi- No, I’m not promising that because I don’t know. But I’ll do anything to keep you safe, you know that. And I’m sure Paul will do the same.”   
  
Paul’s cheeks flushed red, “Yes! I mean, of course, yes. I’ll do anything for you. Oh my god that sounded weird. I’m sorry, I mean-” Emma pressed a kiss against his lips, Paul froze, but soon melted into the kiss. After he pulled away, Emma smiled and rested her head against his chest.   
  
Professor Hidgens stared at them. “So… Emma, I think we should change your bandages and then Paul and I can go shopping?” he said, walking towards the kitchen.   
  
“That’s not necessary, those bandages are fine.”   
  
Paul sighed, “The doctor said you should change them every week.”   
  
“I don’t know if you noticed, but he is dead. Everyone at the PEIP department in the hospital got killed.”   
  
Paul rolled his eyes, “That doesn’t mean you don't have to get better.”   
  
Emma hugged him, “I know, I’m just scared.” He kissed her forehead and Emma relaxed a bit. Professor Hidgens came back, holding fresh bandages.   
  
Emma let Paul go and moved to face Hidgens, who was waiting for Emma to move her leg where he could reach it. He bent down after she stretched her leg and rested her foot on the table. It didn’t hurt when he took off the bandages, but when he wrapped the new ones tightly around her leg, she could barely hold back her tears. She bit her lip, closed her eyes and squeezed Paul’s hand like her life depended on it. Paul used his free hand to rub her back, and though it was comforting, it didn’t take away the pain.   
  
“Alright. That’s it.” the professor said while tying the ends together.   
  
Paul kissed her cheek and stood up. “Do you want breakfast?”   
  
“Yes, thank you.”   
  
He walked to the kitchen, and professor Hidgens went upstairs to brush his teeth. Paul came back a few minutes later. While Emma was stuffing her mouth full with the bread he made for her, he sat down next to her.   
  
“Em, I want to ask you something.”   
  
“What?” she answered, swallowing her breakfast.   
  
“Will you… be my girlfriend?”   
  
Emma’s cheeks flushed red, “Yes! I thought you’d never ask.”


	19. Kidnapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone's at the door while Paul & Hidgens are shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting really dark & angsty from now on.

Emma slid her hand into Pauls and kissed his cheek. Paul smiled, still blushing. The professor came back, ruining the moment, but nothing could ruin Emma’s mood. Paul and professor Hidgens left a few minutes later. Paul had kissed Emma goodbye and they were gone.    
  
Emma didn’t like the silence that took over the house and decided to watch a movie to calm her thoughts down. She used her arms and right leg to lift herself into the wheelchair and put a random disk in the DVD player, without bothering to look which one she picked.    
  
Just after the intro of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the doorbell rang. Emma looked at her phone to check the time but Paul and Hidgens left only about ten minutes ago. She anxiously moved her wheelchair towards the door.    
  
“Who is it?” she shouted.    
  
“It’s PEIP! Open the door.”    
  
Emma did what she was told, but it wasn’t a PEIP agent who was standing in front of her. Yes, he was wearing a PEIP uniform, but she didn’t think a real PEIP agent would point a gun at her. Besides, Emma recognized his face from the picture colonel Schaffer had sent her a week earlier.    
  
Tom Carter.   
  
The man smirked, “You’re in a wheelchair? Well that’s easy!” He snatched the phone from her hands and pushed the wheelchair towards the van, which was parked in the middle of their flowerbed.    
  
Emma froze, she was too scared to say anything. She could feel a pressure form on the back of her head, and assumed that was the gun. Tom grabbed her shoulders and forced her to get her out of the wheelchair. Emma tried to move her weight to her right leg. He threw her in the back of the van, before tying her arms and legs together. An unbearable pain shot through her entire body when he twisted her left leg. She screamed, but he seemed to enjoy her pain.    
  
The door closed, and Emma was left in total darkness. She heard the car engine start and soon the car started moving. Emma froze when she heard the car radio turn on. She still got scared whenever she heard music, and this idiot just turned on the radio. She wanted to scream, but she doubted that that would help. Instead, tears fell down her face.    
  
The back of the van was dusty, and she tried to breathe as little as possible. She attempted to push herself up, but the rope around her wrists and the stabbing pain in her leg kept her from succeeding. Emma closed her eyes, she could do nothing but wait. Paul would get so worried when he noticed she was gone, but even if he could find her, it would probably be too late, considering the fact that this man would want to kill her.    
  
The van stopped and Emma, who wasn’t wearing seat belts, fell on her face. The engine stopped roaring and she could hear the door of the driver’s seat open and close. She curled up, terrified to even think about what was about to happen.    
  
The door opened, and after being in the dark for what she guessed was about 15 minutes, the bright sunlight burned in her eyes. Tom grabbed her hands and pulled her out of the car. Her feet, which were still tied together, hit the ground and she cried out loud. The man smelled like cigarettes and sweat and Emma just wanted it to be over. She gave up, it didn’t matter how hard she tried to fight, it wouldn’t matter.    
  
Tom dragged her towards a small, 2-story house. It looked old, and the door creaked when he pushed it open. He entered the living room, still dragging a screaming Emma behind him. All the furniture was pushed to the walls, with in the center a chair.    
  
Without saying anything, he pushed Emma into the chair. He removed the rope from her wrists, instead restraining her to the chair. He did the same with her ankles, and Emma yelped when he grabbed her left leg and tied it to the chair.    
  
Tom took a step back, “Let’s have some fun, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I guess?


	20. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom wants to have fun but it's not fun for Emma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: from now on there will be lots of violence, blood and some character deaths. Please don't read this if that bothers you!
> 
> The only reason this is rated T is because I'm not an adult myself so it wouldn't make sense if it was rated M.

Emma looked at the man, who turned around to grab something off the dining table. A small blade. “Why are you doing this? I know you want to kill me. Just get it over with.”    
  
The man smirked and kneeled beside her, the blade dangerously close to her throat, “I could just kill you here and now, but what’s fun about that? Let me have some fun before I kill you. This isn’t about you. It’s about the fact that PEIP fired me for wanting to do my job. Because if you think about it, I was right: if we keep the survivors of all those apocalypses alive, the information is very likely to spread.” Emma jerked away from the blade, not even paying attention to his words anymore. “So I want my revenge. I’m recording your screams and sending them to PEIP. I may have killed all the agents here in Colorado, but there are a lot of other agents in other parts of the United States, or even the rest of the world.” He grabbed her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. “So don’t be afraid to scream.”    
  
He let her go and grabbed his phone to record what was happening. After he put his phone down on the table, he walked to the other side of the room. He lifted the blade to throw it at her. Emma closed her eyes and felt something fly next to her arm her arm. The man cursed. He had missed.    
  
Emma opened her eyes, and she saw him grab another blade off the table and throw it at her. She could feel it pierce through the skin of her shoulder, but it took a few seconds until she felt the pain. She screamed and tears rolled down her face. Emma tried to grab her shoulder, but the restraints around her wrists stopped her.    
  
He smirked and came closer to her. Emma looked away, she didn’t want to see the smile on his face. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on something else than her shoulder.    
  
The front door opened, and she heard footsteps coming closer. She opened her eyes, and she could see a tall woman standing in the doorway. That woman was also on the picture the colonel had sent, Emma remembered, but she couldn’t remember until Tom spoke. “Hello Michelle, do you want to say hi to Emma? Or should I say...” He locked eyes with her, “Kelly.”    
  
Emma would’ve rolled her eyes or made a snarky comment if she would be in any other situation, but right now she was too terrified to talk or move.    
  
The woman crouched in front of her. “So… Kelly. How are you? No, actually, I don’t care.” She grabbed the blade with her thumb and index finger and slowly pushed it deeper into Emma’s flesh. She smirked when Emma let out a pained scream, “Ow, does that hurt? Well get over it!”    
  
Her hand had hit Emma’s face before she could progress what was happening. Tears stung in Emma’s eyes, and she saw Tom smile. The woman walked towards him and kissed his cheek, “I’m going to see my parents. Good luck with her.” She gestured towards Emma and left the room, her heels clicking on the tiles.    
  
“Goodbye, love!” Tom called out, before turning to Emma. “I think we had enough fun for today. Our playdate is over.”    
  
He grabbed a gun from the table. Emma’s eyes widened and he chuckled when he saw the fear in her eyes. “I had a fun time, but don’t have any more time; I have some other people to kill. Next up: your boyfriend, Ben. Or Paul, whatever you want to call him.”    
  
“Don’t you dare touch him! I will kill you!” she screamed, tugging at the restraints.    
  
Tom laughed, “Oh Emma, do you really think that? I have a gun, and you have… nothing. You’re tied to a chair and even if you weren’t, you can’t even walk. So I will kill you first. And then I’ll look for your boyfriend as soon as possible. Maybe you’ll even be reunited later today, in hell.” He loaded his gun. “Any last words?”    
  
“Paul, I love you.” Emma whispered under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I feel bad.
> 
> Also I listened to The Torture Tango (from Spies Are Forever) for 2 hours while writing this.


	21. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma survives, but there's another problem.

He pointed the gun at her. Emma shut her eyes. She had once read on the internet that you should look a shooter in the eyes, because it makes you seem more human. But now it was really happening, and she just couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to see the smirk on his face when he pulled the trigger. She heard Tom laugh. She kept her eyes shut, wishing she would die quickly, without too much more pain. 

A gunshot echoed through the room. Emma mentally prepared for the bullet to hit her and the pain she would undoubtedly experience. 

Nothing.

A pained yelp made her realize that something was wrong, at least for Tom, not dying couldn’t be wrong for her. She slowly opened her eyes. Her capturer was on the ground, a small puddle of blood formed on the ground under his head. 

Paul came running towards her, while professor Hidgens fired another bullet towards Tom, who stopped moving. Emma looked away. Of course, she hated that man, but she didn’t mean she wanted to see his bleeding corpse lying on the ground. Paul untied the ropes around her wrists & ankles and she stumbled into his chest when he tried to help her stand up. He held her tightly, like he was scared she’d leave him again. 

“What? How did you-” 

Professor Hidgens grabbed her phone from the table. “When we saw the wheelchair in the front yard, it didn’t take long for us to figure out what happened. Luckily Paul could track your phone. We arrived just in time, didn’t we?” 

Emma closed her eyes, burying her face into Paul’s shirt, tears started rolling down her cheeks. She grunted. Paul accidentally touched the blade that was still piercing through the flesh of her shoulder and she let out a muffled cry. 

Paul examined it, “I’m going to pull it out, okay?” 

Professor Hidgens walked towards them. “Don’t do that yet. It’ll only make the bleeding worse and she has lost a lot of blood already.” he said, nodding his head in the direction of her shoulder, which was covered in blood. 

“We have to get out of here.” Emma said, she didn’t even recognize her own voice, “The other one will come back.” 

“The other one?” The professor raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? Never mind we should just go.” 

She felt Paul lift her up from the floor. “Just hold on. You’ll be okay.” he whispered in her ear. She closed her eyes as he carried here to the car. Professor Hidgens got into the driver's seat and Paul opened the door of the backseat. 

“No...” Emma groaned, “I don’t want to get blood all over your car.” 

Paul let out an anxious chuckle, “That’s the least I care about, Em.” He got into the car and made sure she was as comfortable as possible. Emma laid her head down on Paul’s lap. 

“Make sure she stays conscious.” the professor said, driving home as quickly as possible, just making sure he didn’t break any speed limits to prevent Emma from having a panic attack, he knew she didn’t like cars. The pain kicked in now that the adrenalin was gone and tears started rolling down her face. 

Paul kept saying that everything was going to be alright and she clung to him while trying to focus on his voice rather than the pain. Hidgens was just quietly driving. They got home a few minutes later and Professor Hidgens carefully lifted Emma from Paul’s lap out of the car. Paul got out of the car and they walked inside. Emma cried softly at every movement. The professor put her down on the couch and Emma collapsed immediately, she closed her eyes. 

Paul grabbed his phone, “I’ll call PEIP.” He left the room, leaving Emma and the professor alone. 

“Emma, dear?” She opened her tear-filled eyes to look at him. “You’ll be alright.” 

Emma grabbed his hand. “It hurts. It hurts so much.” she said, her voice shaking. 

The professor rubbed her back with the hand she wasn’t holding. “I know, dear... I know...” 

Emma could hear Paul shout in the kitchen. He had never shouted since she met him, he hadn’t even raised his voice once. About a minute later he came back into the room. “We’re not allowed to go to the normal hospital, they don’t want anyone to know what happened. They have to send a doctor from another location, because the PEIP hospital is abandoned right now, but it will take at least an hour before they’re here.”

Hidgens sighed, squeezing Emma’s hand, “I’ll make sure she doesn’t die in the meantime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't even finished this fic and I'm already working on the plot of part 2 oops


	22. Guns

Paul filled a glass with water and handed it to Emma, who drowned it like it was the first drink she had in years. The professor grabbed a small first-aid kit and opened it. He used some scissors to cut Emma’s shirt open. Emma closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. 

Paul grabbed her hand, “Emma, I’m so sorry. I should’ve just stayed with you and now this happened and you almost died and I was so scared and I don’t know what I’d do without you and-” 

“Paul… It’s okay… It’s not your fault.” An unbearable pain shot through her shoulder, and she screamed. 

Paul squeezed her hand, “Shhh, Em… It’s okay. I know it hurts. Shhh...” 

Emma felt herself slip out of consciousness. She could hear the voices of Paul and professor somewhere in the distance, telling her to stay awake, but it just seemed so much easier to close her eyes.

*** *** ***

Emma moaned softly, opening her eyes slightly. 

“Em?” Paul asked. 

“Yeah?” 

“We’re on our way to the hospital.” He stroked her hair. “You’ll be fine, okay? Just hold on...” 

“I love you...” she whispered, before she was embraced by darkness once again.

*** *** ***

“-going to put her under so I can properly treat her shoulder.” someone whose voice Emma didn’t recognize said. 

“Will she be okay?” Paul asked, it sounded like he had been crying. 

“Yes. If everything goes well, she will definitely recover.” Emma could feel a needle being pushed into the skin of her hand and she was out cold.

*** *** ***

“Emma, dear?” Emma slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light hospital room. She could tell that is was the same room as last time, because there was a stain on the wall next to the door. Professor Hidgens smiled at her, “How do you feel?” Tears stung in her eyes as she realized this was real. It wasn’t a dream. The professor rushed to her side. “Emma, dear, it’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here. He’s gone.” 

Emma cried, “Hidgens, I was so scared. I thought I was going to die. And it just hurts so much and I’m so tired and I don’t want to be here.” 

“I know, dear. You’ll be fine.” 

Paul rushed into the room, “Hey, I heard you talking, is she-” his eyes landed on Emma. “Emma! You’re awake!” 

Emma shrugged, “I guess I am.” Paul laughed, but it was obvious he had just cried. “Paul?” 

“Yes?” 

“Thank you for saving me.” 

“Of course, Em! Why should you thank me for that? I don’t want you to die, I love you!” 

“I love you too, Paul.” 

Professor Hidgens cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’m going to tell the doctor you’re awake.” He walked away. 

Emma looked at Paul and, despite the circumstances, a smile lit up her face for a few seconds, before she started crying again. “Paul, I was so scared. I just wanted you to know that, even after the few weeks we’ve known each other, you mean a lot to me and I want you to know that I was really scared you wouldn’t know that if I died.” 

Paul grabbed her hand, “I know, Em. You mean a lot to me too. You know, when I was trying to survive with all those aliens around, it seemed so easy to give up. One wrong step could mean the end of me. But the thought that I could save you, and that we would live a happy life together, kept me going.” 

Emma pulled Paul closer to her and kissed him. “I love you, Paul.” 

“I don’t know who did it, but you’re both paying the price.” a female voice said. Emma looked up, and in the doorway stood Michelle Carter. “Which of you killed my husband?” 

“Who are you?” Paul asked. 

“Michelle. Michelle Carter. One of you killed my husband and I’d like to know who.” She pulled out a gun and pointed it at the couple. 

“For your information, none of us did.” Paul said surprisingly calm. Emma grabbed his hand. 

“You’re aware that you’re in a base ran by the government and that there’s probably tons of security cameras?” Emma knew Paul was staying strong for her, but that he was also terrified. She thought about calling for Hidgens, but Michelle would probably shoot her immediately and she’d also hurt Hidgens. She realized that Michelle didn’t know about Hidgens, because he wasn’t a survivor when Tom got fired. 

“I know. I don’t care that I might go to prison, if that means I can get my revenge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I'm posting 2 chapters now lol
> 
> Also writing fanfics in English when it's not your first language is just reading it again and finding so many mistakes so I'm sorry about that.


	23. The last goodbye

Pain exploded through Emma’s chest. She could hear the sound of breaking glass and screams. It took her a moment to realize what caused the pain; she’d been shot. Her blurry vision made it difficult to see what was happening, but someone punched Michelle and she fell to the ground. After he had kicked her a few times and she didn’t move anymore. 

The person ran towards her and she could now see that it was Hidgens. “Emma!” He rushed to her side. Emma looked at him, but she was more worried about the fact that Paul wasn’t standing next to her anymore. 

“Paul?” she asked, while professor Hidgens looked at the gunshot wound in her chest. Paul ground softly while sitting up on the floor, clutching his shoulder. “Paul!” Emma cried. He slowly stood up, still holding his shoulder. “Paul, you’re bleeding.” 

“So are you.” 

Emma inhaled sharply, “You need help.” 

“So do you, Em.” 

“No I don’t! I’m going to die okay?” 

“Emma, dear… You won’t die.” the professor cut her off. 

“Yes I will! I’m already weak. I’m in a hospital bed for god's sake. Paul, you need help. If I die, then I at least want you to live!” 

“I’m not leaving you!” 

The professor left, mumbling something about finding a doctor. 

Tears streamed down Paul’s face, and Emma grabbed his hand. “Paul, please… I’ve been through enough. I don’t want to suffer even more. But you… I hoped that I could marry you someday, but now that day will never come. Just go. Get some help and start over. Find a new life, forget about me. Do what makes you happy. I will watch over you, Ben Bridges.” 

“Emma Perkins I’m not leaving you.” 

“Okay…” she gave in, “Just promise me you won’t be sad if I don’t make it.” 

“I will be sad, but I’ll try not to, okay?” 

“Yeah...” Emma’s hands hovered over the wound, but she was too scared to touch it. “It hurts so much...” 

“Tell me about it… Em, I love you so, so much, you know that, right?” 

“Yeah I do. I love you too.” Paul smiled weakly, tears were glistering in his eyes. He bent down and kissed Emma’s sweaty forehead. “Paul, I’m so sorry.” 

“What could you possibly be sorry for?” 

“Everything. You know, sending you to blow up the meteor. And afterwards you had to put up with all my injuries and I cried more in the past two weeks than I did the rest of my life and I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” 

“Emma, don’t apologize… I would be infected if it wasn’t for you. I would have given up the moment an alien came near me. But I didn’t. For you.” 

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before professor Hidgens burst into the room. “I can’t find the doctor. I know he’s not dead because we would’ve heard more gunshots. But now you might die...” 

“Hidgens… It’s okay… I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me.” 

“I love you, dear. I’ll always keep you with me.” He reached into his turtleneck and pulled out a necklace: the necklace Emma had given him for his 55th birthday, a few years ago. It opened to reveal a picture of the two of them. 

“You still have it.” Emma whispered. 

“I never took it off.” Hidgens wiped a tear away, “Emma, dear, I love you so much.” He sighed. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Paul?” Emma asked when he was gone. 

“Yes?” Paul answered, holding back tears of both pain and sadness. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.” He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. Emma smiled, before letting out one deep breath and letting her head rest against the pillow. “Goodbye.” Paul whispered. 

Emma closed her eyes and slowly all the pain faded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALREADY WORKING ON PART 2 SO PLEASE WAIT BEFORE YOU KILL ME  
Part 2 will be called: I Thought It Would Be Over
> 
> A few years ago, I couldn't say much more than "Hi my name is Mirthe" in English and now I wrote a book.  
I spent 6 months writing this, and now I'm done...   
Thanks to everyone who left comments, kudos or just read it.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it and that you will stick around for part 2 :)

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is appreciated :)


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